Hello, this is Verstka’s politics desk. We have once again worked in the genre of “what Russian officials think about the war...”

Hello, this is Verstka’s politics desk. We have once again worked in the genre of “what Russian officials think about the war.” What they think is roughly this (of course, we cannot speak for everyone, but this is the general picture among people in senior positions): they are tired of the war, but Putin said so—what can they do, they have to endure it.

Their opinion matters because under any scenario—from a hypothetical “snuffbox” to the preservation of the regime under a successor, from a revolution to a liberal turn—they will have some role to play. They like to think a great deal depends on them, but the war has shown them this: over a quarter-century of the regime’s existence, they have become so much a part of the ship that they cannot sail in another direction.

They do not believe they can change anything and are forever waiting: either for “Kyiv to fall,” or for Trump to arrive in a blue helicopter and save everyone for free. Or they no longer expect anything at all, but still silently go to work and continue being cogs in the system. And in the bad case, they increase demand for banned substances; in the good case, for imported alcohol.

Russian officials may want the war to end, but that does not mean they are prepared to pursue it on terms different from Putin’s terms, one of our interlocutors bluntly summed up. And this is actually a very important point. Because this is not repentance, not an acknowledgment of mistakes, and not even anger at the bosses who dropped this gift on their heads. It is a simple inability to take responsibility. Why? Because they are part of the ship.

Have a read—someday this confusion will become history, and people will look in it for the causes of the events taking place:

Link not working? Read here.

😘 Subscribe to @svobodnieslova and support Verstka—it matters

Verstka

“The negotiations are ‘constructive’ every time, but they achieve nothing”: Russian elites do not expect a breakthrough from the new negotiation track with the United States

Why officials in Russia want peace but do nothing to achieve it